Boomer favorites top best-value car list

By Matthew Heimer

As many of us have learned the hard way, the cost of car ownership goes far beyond the checks you cut to the dealer or the bank. Fuel, maintenance and repairs, depreciation and the cost of insurance can all bulk up the cost of ownership, turning what looked like a bargain on the lot into a white elephant in your driveway. Hence the value of a guide like Kelley Blue Book’s 5-Year Cost to Own Awards that aims to project which makes and models will be most affordable once all those factors are taken into account.

Lincoln

Aggressively styled, but wallet-friendly.

Kelley’s rankings for the 2013 model year, released this week in conjunction with the Chicago Auto Show, pick winners in categories of interest to car lovers in general and boomers in particular. Lincoln, a brand that’s been trying to shake its stodgy image with more stylish designs aimed at the 50-something crowd, had the best ranked models in two categories, Luxury Mid-Size SUV/Crossover and Luxury Full-Size SUV/Crossover (for the MKX and MKT, respectively). Ford’s iconic Mustang, enjoying revived popularity after a redesign, took best-value honors in the Sports Car and High-Performance Car categories (the latter for its GT version).

Swinging for the fences in the High-End Luxury Car category? The Kelley rankings give best-value honors to the Porsche Panamera, which retails for around $77,000.

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Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.